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BC is a mid major (in basketball) playing in a "major" conference. I did an analysis of the program going back almost 50 years a few seasons ago and when you look at the body of work, BC is basically a mediocre "NIT level" basketball program. Yes, it has had a few runs in the Big Dance but that usually is every 10 years or so for a 2-3 season stretch (generally they catch lightning in a bottle with a recruiting class every 10 years or so and have great years (2-3) till that class graduates). Then its back to NIT bids or no bids at all.

Their coaches for the most part achieve greater glory either before (Bob Cousy) or after they work on the Heights (Chuck Daly, Jim O'Brien, Gary Williams and Tom Davis to name a few). The only coach that reached their apex at BC, IMHO, is Al Skinner. Not that it is much of an apex.

In any event, BC is a development program, not only in football but in basketball, and that holds true not only for the players but the coaches. The problem is that the facilities for basketball are now 30+ years old. Unlike football that has seen upgrades in the last few years, that is not the case for basketball. So, when you have an apathetic fan base, coupled with poor facilities, relative to your league competition, you have a tough road to hoe. They also have competition for recruits not only from the ACC but the Big East as well. Go to the Dunkin Center in Providence and watch a PC game against a BE opponent. The place is not Cameron but it certainly is a hell of a lot more energetic than Conte. And PC hoops is the big man on campus. BC hoops is clearly an after thought from the students to the administration. Put all that together and you have a recipe for mediocrity....and apathy, which is the worst thing for an athletic program.

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The apathy is truly the worst part, especially when it is coming from the top of the university downwards. In my eyes there's no reason BC has to sit back and accept its fate as a mid-major (as you put it), but more than any other factor, they choose to continue this way. Because of the built-in disadvantages described in the last few posts, BC is never going to fall ass-backwards into sustained success longer than a few years. But we also don't know what the ceiling is for the program because BC has never swung for it.

If the school built a dedicated practice/team facility (they don't even need to replace Conte) and splurged for a coach with youth, ambition, and personality -- I'm thinking Buzz Williams as the obvious archetype but it doesn't have to be someone with that high a profile -- and that failed miserably, I would feel more comfortable saying "this is the way it is." At least they will have gone down swinging. But what we have seen for the last ten years is just dreadful. The apathy from the school has created, rightfully, apathy among the fans. BC (like PC) doesn't have to make the tournament every year to be a success, but they have to create the belief that it's within the realm of possibility. They need to field a team that excites fans and overperforms expectations at least once in a while.

Being in the ACC is a massive advantage that a shrewd athletic department can take great advantage of. New England produces a pretty solid amount of BB talent, way more than football, and that's not even considering the numerous prep schools that attract actual top talent from across the country. It wouldn't be impossible for BC to put itself in the mix for even a handful of players a year from the proverbial backyard, and that would go a long way towards easing the reliance on finding overlooked recruits (something we have always been decent at) and/or "lightning in a bottle" recruiting classes to carry the program. Even if we find a good coach who leaves for a bigger name, so what? Keep trying to find more.

Hiring Jarmond seemed like a signal that the school was willing to put itself out there a bit and take some risks in order to shake up the way things have been going the last ten years or so. I don't know who is really calling the shots, but it's beyond time to take action. Even some baby steps could pay off in unexpected ways. I grew up during the Bell/Smith/Dudley era so I may have more optimism than many here, but having lived through that I just can't accept that this is the way it has to be forever.

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Rutgers is in a similar position in the Big Ten. It's really tough to compete with the top eschelon in the Big Ten without facility upgrades. The school, however, is building a brand new practice facility for the men's and women's teams which should be ready for next year. They hired a coach in Steve Pikiell who is high-energy, great personality, and has built championship-level programs from literally the bottom up. The department pumped a ton of money into the coaching staff and hired quality coaches who are good recruiters. They dealt with fan apathy in the Eddie Jordan era, but now the program has new blood pumped in and people are excited.

If BC just takes some of that ACC TV revenue money and upgrades the facilities like you said above it would go a long ways. Hiring the right coach who knows it's going to be a slow build and can energize the fanbase in the meantime is required as well.

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The school never replaced Reid Oslin as an SID who cultivated a relationship with tge local media.That is one rwason there is such an appallung level if apathy.BC needs a better job by the atletic department in selling the various programs.The Beanpot and the hockey team sell themselves.Who is selling AJDillon and Ky Bowman

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Did anyone attend the Miami game? Don't know if it was the way they had the crowd mik'd up, but the crowd noise on tv was non-existent. The place was half full, too, although pretty spread out which at a glance made it not look that bad. Apathy indeed.
Also, it was an awful game, wonder if Larranaga is in worse shape job-security-wise vis-a-vis Christian. He's also 69 or 70 years old.

impregnated Melissa Theuriau

Bernie and Ginger, great analysis and like football we all know who the problem is, Lahey and I don’t mean BC’80somthing Frank. To quote Regan ‘the fish rots from the head’ he is willing to take the ACC $$$ but look how long it took to get IPF and Baseball/Softball facilitates on Seminary land.

The other problem is that we are land locked, we need practice facilities for both Hockey and Hoop, where can we put them?

Agreed. Incredibly frustrating to watch. He waited too long to get started, which eliminated any chance of an offensive rebound (which was likely given the way Mitchell was crashing the boards), but also didnt effectively use the pick Popovic came out to set, which eliminated Pop as an option on the roll. At that point with time running out all he had was the 3 with 2 guys all over him.

The injuries, the refs stealing the ND game, and poor execution at the end of close games have cost them at least 3 games, probably more. So instead of a respectable 16-9 or 17-8 with a shot at the dance they're 13-12 and headed nowhere

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I find it hard to blame Ky there. He was dribbling in front of Christian for 15 seconds and that's the play that came of it? Ky was clearly tired and unable to get separation on a jumper, but a drive had a pretty good chance of succeeding. We held all the cards there and any team should be able to do much better than that desperation 3.

The rest of the end of the game was painful with the two missed FTs and the (admittedly terrible) pass from Hamilton bouncing off the ref, you just have to throw your hands up. These players look invested and they are fighting hard, and you just want better results for them. I have a lot of respect for everyone in the rotation on this team, ultimately they are the ones who execute poorly at the end of these games but they deserve a better record than this. Shitty season all around.

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Is it a forgone conclusion that Ky is gone after this year? I know that was assumed coming into the year, but I haven't see any improvement in his game from last year, and in the limited mocks I've looked at he's still not a 1st rounder. Plus whatever issue led to his benching a few games ago.

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Is it a forgone conclusion that Ky is gone after this year? I know that was assumed coming into the year, but I haven't see any improvement in his game from last year, and in the limited mocks I've looked at he's still not a 1st rounder. Plus whatever issue led to his benching a few games ago.

Foregone conclusion? Probably not. But I think he's almost surely a goner. He wanted to leave last year but knew he needed a year as "the man". At this point, I don't think he even gets drafted. Just isn't an NBA player but should have a decent Europe career.

Dope

Sure he shot pretty poorly, but he actually looked like a PG. He made more good passes today than he had made in a month.

BC beats Louisville at Conte tonight.

his is a good basketball team right now. Hopefully they can win 2/3 down the stretch here and then maybe get at least on in the ACC tourney. I'm convinced if Tabbs makes it back and they can sneak in they are a threat in the NIT

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Sure he shot pretty poorly, but he actually looked like a PG. He made more good passes today than he had made in a month.

BC beats Louisville at Conte tonight.

his is a good basketball team right now. Hopefully they can win 2/3 down the stretch here and then maybe get at least on in the ACC tourney. I'm convinced if Tabbs makes it back and they can sneak in they are a threat in the NIT

Well-Known Member

Story as I hear it is they like JC and don't particularly feel like there's a massive upgrade out there and he's recruited well. But he's consistently not won. I think he's brutal at end of games but thats my personal opinion and I'm not going to editorialize any more than that - but objectively, he doesn't win. So what do you do?

My instinct is they go the Addazio route and just maintain mediocrity, it seems the Athletic Director is very comfortable with mediocrity and posting tweets about fencing and quidditch to distract from the incompetence of its major sports programs, but the hoops situation is an interesting one.

Well-Known Member

If you know that to be the case, then I'm intrigued (re: Addazio). It runs counter to what I was told. I agree the extension was a paper one but my understanding was he wasn't pushing a change there either.

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Courageous loss to a 13-17 Ga Tech team tonight that struggled to score 60 in league play and put up over 80 tonight (admittedly in OT). Program is dead. As is the tradition with BC coaches, JC leads the excuse train with the excuse being Tabbs out but this team is hot garbage and going nowhere fast.

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Total stinker at home on Senior Day featuring a 32-4 NC State run in the first half with BC ahead. Oh, and Pop left with a leg injury that didn't look good. Just a depressing game to watch. Hard to feel an ounce of optimism for the future after watching that.

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Total stinker at home on Senior Day featuring a 32-4 NC State run in the first half with BC ahead. Oh, and Pop left with a leg injury that didn't look good. Just a depressing game to watch. Hard to feel an ounce of optimism for the future after watching that.

Member

Does Jarmond have any juice? Christian, as nice a guy as he is, should be fired and a competent replacement named. Money should be spent on someone who has demonstrated they can recruit in a high-major and win in a tough (non-supportive) environment. Conversely, if there is no money for that model, hire an up-and-coming coach who has the energy and passion to really build BC basketball into a brand again.

Spinelli should stay but they need to clear the decks otherwise on the coaching staff.

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Does Jarmond have any juice? Christian, as nice a guy as he is, should be fired and a competent replacement named. Money should be spent on someone who has demonstrated they can recruit in a high-major and win in a tough (non-supportive) environment. Conversely, if there is no money for that model, hire an up-and-coming coach who has the energy and passion to really build BC basketball into a brand again.

Spinelli should stay but they need to clear the decks otherwise on the coaching staff.

We will see how much but recruiting seems to be turning a corner, but of course let's see if they can close on some of the guys in play. . Anyway someone needs to start a new thread, and my luck stinks so it won't be me, maybe we need to wait a few more days

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